Glossary Terms

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Term (EN)	Definition	Exam Relevance
Constituent Assembly	Body elected to draft the Constitution (1946–1949)	Cabinet Mission Plan
Drafting Committee	7-member committee chaired by Ambedkar to draft final text	CA structure
Preamble	Introductory statement declaring objectives and nature of the state	Indian Constitution
Fundamental Rights	Justiciable rights guaranteed by Part III against state action	Art. 12–35
Directive Principles	Non-justiciable guidelines for state governance policy	Art. 36–51
Fundamental Duties	Moral obligations on citizens; non-justiciable	Art. 51A
Article 14	Equality before law and equal protection of laws	Part III
Article 21	Right to life and personal liberty	Part III
Article 32	Right to Constitutional Remedies — writ jurisdiction of SC	Part III
Habeas Corpus	Writ to produce unlawfully detained person before court	Common Law/Art 32
Mandamus	Writ compelling public authority to perform mandatory duty	Common Law/Art 32
Certiorari	Writ to quash inferior court order exceeding jurisdiction	Common Law/Art 32
Quo Warranto	Writ questioning legal authority to hold public office	Common Law/Art 32
Basic Structure	Essential features of Constitution that Parliament cannot destroy	Kesavananda (1973)
Reasonable Classification	Valid basis for treating unlike groups differently under Art 14	Art 14 doctrine
Justiciable	Enforceable by courts	Legal term
Non-justiciable	Cannot be enforced by courts	Legal term
Uniform Civil Code	Single personal law for all citizens irrespective of religion	Art 44 DPSP
Writ jurisdiction	Power of SC/HC to issue constitutional writs	Art 32/226
42nd Amendment	1976 — added Fundamental Duties, 'Socialist'+'Secular' in Preamble	Constitutional history
44th Amendment	1978 — removed Right to Property from Fundamental Rights	Constitutional history
86th Amendment	2002 — added Art 21A (Right to Education) + 11th Fundamental Duty	Constitutional history
103rd Amendment	2019 — EWS reservation 10% in education and employment	Constitutional history